Fade

Fade - Chapter 27

"Ah, of course! Corvus, you can always ask me about contracts, you know. I can't believe you were gone for so long. What exactly were you doing, eh?"

Sebastian follows the thick latin-accented demon down the winding halls of the underground facility. Ciel is back at the dorms, safely awaiting his return.

"I had a contract with a boy that lasted for longer than I had anticipated. His parents had died in a fire. He was quite fiery. Full of resentment and wanted vengeance. You know... revenge stories are always the same."

"Yes, I see. I see."

Taurus holds the lantern high to shine candlelight on the surface of an old door at the end of the hallway. The surface of the wood is carved in delicate inscriptions of a hellish language... the characters sinister and inhuman.

"We had to blast out part of the chambers to get to this... but we found an old library dating back to the year 1398. I'm sure there is plenty information to be found. We've been going through stacks and stacks of books, files and paper and still haven't read it all. Part of it is in a different language. It's probably dead... too old for us to understand."

"Like this?"

Sebastian runs his long, sinewy fingers across the scarred elder of the door.

"Yes, just like that. The earliest document we've found so far is from two thousand years ago. As you know, the extinctions happened a mere one thousand or so ago... so we should be able to find something of use for you."

The air is cold, stale and smelling of death as the two fiends step inside the confines of the large, dusty room.

The walls and ceiling are so large it looks more like a vast cave filled with the knowledge of the deities than a library; with passages leading the way off into other caverns and hallways. The bookshelves are stacked high with tomes of every shape and size, leather-bound and cloth with leaflet pages.

"First, I have a question to ask you."

"Alright, then. But it does seem arbitrary for your little one to want know this stuff."

Sebastian chuckles.

"Taurus... I've known you since your bouts with the gangs of centuries ago. If anyone, you have first hand knowledge. All I want to know from you is what killed them all... not why."

Taurus turns his head, seemingly holding his breath until he exhales slowly, scratching his chin as he looks back at Sebastian.

"Corvus, listen, I... I only know a few things."

He gestures for the elegant demon to sit next to him on a small stone bench in the corner of the bigger room.

"I know your father was involved. Indirectly, of course... but I'm sure you thought of that."

Sebastian nods slyly, listening in to Taurus' raw and deep accent.

"Now you and I know he was a half blood... and I'm sure you understood the implications of those who knew this. So it's understandable that his relations with that community were underground. It would've made it easier if it weren't though... because it's taken us ages to find this one thing out."

He looks at Sebastian with an almost comedically cautious expression.

"You see... half bloods can turn us full-blooded demon into Angels. How? We do not know. That's why I said it would've been easier if your father's actions during that period weren't so secretive, because he would've been a direct source of information."

Sebastian leans back, letting the gears turn in his mind. Everything starts to piece together slightly, and he realizes what his and Ciel's next move should most-likely be.

"Well that's as good an answer as any, I suppose."

Taurus nods as he smirks.

He seems to pick up the slight tinge of amusement at the mention of Ciel, for his playful hit upon Sebastian's back jars him slightly as he sighs, standing up.

"I'm gonna' leave you to do your work. I wish you the best of luck with that boy."

He starts laughing then... loud and bubbling in his stomach. He throws his head back as he exits the library, his laugh continuing down the hall. Sebastian's eyelashes flutter over his ruby eyes for a moment as he muses over the large-horned demon walking down that hallway.

"My dear Ciel... you will get whatever you desire."